playground afternoon

these past few summer months, i've been letting the boys go & enjoy the playground all by themselves. call me negligent all you want, but i believe they can cross the street and enjoy the playground on their own.

they don't need me to supervise their adventures. instead i want them to explore on their own, knowing the rules they must follow & enjoy their precious afternoons.

my father in law once told how he used to grab his gun & spend all day out in the fields just 'being a boy' when he was only andrew's age. 

while i would never let the boys take a gun to the playground, i want that freedom for my boys. i want him to see that he can do things on his own. to discover himself while doing boy things and have fun with his brother or neighbors. he can come home when the sun sets as dirty as he wants, for i don't care. i'm just grateful they're able to do this. if we lived anywhere else, i doubt this would be the case.

elena cries when the boys leave. she wants to do everything with them. so on this particular day, i caved and i grabbed my camera and chased those boys across the street to let my little girl play with her big bros.

she also has shown her need for independence by completely climbing the playset all on her own, sliding without fear or the need for me to catch her and attempting to climb on the monkey bars all on her own. 

in other words....

she scares me half to death.

the only thing that bothers them about their sister tagging along is that they can't go fast in the merry-go-round. they like going dizzingly fast (jonah once flew out of it)! but they all love the swings. 

they could swing all day. 

have a great week everyone!